The Squib in the Attic
by angelus cado
Summary: We've been led to believe that Draco Malfoy is an only child, but that may not be entirely true. If so, then where is his sibling?
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: **Yeah, this stuff doesn't belong to me. Heck, even the plot isn't original! Although, I do own one thing—Cassius.

**The Squib in the Attic**

By dragonbrat

Prologue

Two children, aged nine and seven, were playing in an immaculate sitting room with a prim, upright, sharp-eyed nanny sitting nearby. It was easy to tell that the children were related; they both had the same grey eyes, blond hair and pointed elfish face. The older child, a boy, was showing his younger brother how to mount a toy broomstick. The little boy had his full attention on his older brother so that he wouldn't miss any of the finer points. Little did they know, their futures were being discussed in the next room.

"Narcissa, dear, do you notice anything…odd…about Cassius?" asked Lucius, peering over the rim of his teacup at his wife. Narcissa looked up from her needlework, a surprised expression etched into her aristocratic features.

"What do you mean _odd_?" she asked, her eyes narrowed suspiciously. In reality, Narcissa had been dreading this conversation ever since her younger son was about two years of age. She had hoped that by not saying anything that she would buy him some time; after all, he could have been a late bloomer. However, now that her husband had brought it up, there was no avoiding it.

"By the time Draco was seven, he was levitating objects at will. I remember we had to protect all of my expensive potions bottles when he had tantrums. Remember that?" said Lucius. Narcissa nodded slowly in agreement, knowing where this was going. "But with Cassius, there's nothing. He can't even operate a toy broomstick; _any _idiot can do that! Severus has told me that he can't even brew a few nonsense potions."

"Well, Cassius is still only a young child," began Narcissa slowly, thinking about what she was going to say before she said it. "And he might be a late bloomer! You know, that Longbottom child…"

"Do I look like I _care _about some bumbling idiot of a child?!" asked Lucius, his voice rising. Narcissa looked nervously at the thick oak door leading to the next room to where her sons were playing. She hoped that they couldn't hear them.

"In case you've forgotten, it was _my _sister that drove both Longbottoms to insanity," reminded Narcissa, keeping herself calm. There was no way her precious children were going to hear them argue. After the fall of You-Know-Who, she and Lucius had decided to put up the façade of a harmonious family unit. However, when no one was around, things were a little different.

"I'm fully aware of that," said Lucius through gritted teeth. "The point is, Cassius has not demonstrated _any _magical talent. He's a squib!"

Narcissa bowed her head, making sure that her husband couldn't see the tears forming in her eyes. Lucius narrowed his eyes at his wife's lowered, hunched form. He got up from his chair and strode to her. He gripped Narcissa's chin and forced her to look up. His eyes narrowed coldly when he saw the tears of shame flowing down her face.

"You knew, didn't you?" he hissed. "You knew, and you never told me. How could you!" Lucius slapped his wife, leaving a large red mark on her cheek. She glared defiantly at her husband as she took a deep breath.

"I did it because I thought that maybe I could buy him some time!" she exclaimed. "I thought that maybe, just maybe, he was a late bloomer and would develop his powers later than Draco did."

"This is the worst thing to happen to the Malfoy family," said Lucius. "A _squib!_In _my _family! What will your mother say? What will _my _mother say!? If anything, I blame _you_!" He pointed accusingly at Narcissa

"What the hell did _I _do?!" Narcissa screeched, getting to her feet. Lucius slapped her again, knocking her to the floor.

"There are _no _squibs in _my _family," said Lucius icily. "_You,_ on the other hand, have so many oddities in your family it makes me sick! Your sister married a fucking mudblood! Your cousin, Sirius, was sorted into Gryffindor and became a goody-goody. I wouldn't be surprised if there were a few squibs on your family tree that your family burned off."

Narcissa looked worriedly at the door, praying silently that her children didn't hear this particular argument.

"You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were screwing around behind my back," said Lucius, kicking Narcissa in the ribs as she tried to get up. He left his wife in the middle of the room and stormed through the door into the next room, where his children were playing peacefully.

Draco and Cassius looked up as the door to their father's den slammed open. Both children were paralyzed with fear, their almost identical grey eyes opened wide. Lucius glared at his sons, and pushed Cassius away from his older brother.

"Get away from him, _filth_," he hissed. He spat the last word as if it were a disgusting swear word. "You are not worthy enough to be near him."

"Wh-what did I do, Father?" asked Cassius, his voice small and scared. Lucius said nothing. He just grabbed Cassius by the arm and dragged him to his feet. Draco tried to follow his father and younger brother, but Lucius pointed his wand at his elder son, placing a binding charm on him. The nanny had dozed off some time earlier, and just let out a very loud snore in response to all of the activity.

"Where are you taking me, Father?" asked Cassius as Lucius dragged him through the manor. He came to a stop underneath a trapdoor hidden in the ceiling. He pulled the cord, pulling open the hatch. A ladder descended to the floor, leading up to a very dark and foreboding room.

"Where you belong. Out of sight, out of mind," said Lucius, shoving the small boy towards the ladder. After casting one fearful glance at his father, Cassius climbed the ladder. The boy was barely at the top when Lucius closed the trapdoor, leaving the boy in the dark.

Lucius headed back to the sitting room, where Draco was still bound and gagged on the floor. He undid his son's bounds and helped the boy to his feet.

"Where did you take Cassius, Father?" Draco asked, his eyes wide and inquisitive. "I want to play with my brother."

"You can't. You have no brother," said Lucius, pointing his wand on his son again. "_Obliviate._"

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	2. Chapter 1

**The Squib in the Attic**

By dragonbrat (aka Amanda Snape)

Chapter 1

            Draco Malfoy collapsed as soon as the curse hit him. Pain ripped through his body like never before. However, through the pain he could hear laughter. Not the cruel, harsh laughter of the Death Eaters around him, but the carefree, light laughter of a young child. Then, the images came.

_            Two children were skating across a frozen lake. One boy, Draco, was holding the hands of the younger child as he tried to skate. Instead of gliding across gracefully, the younger boy fell flat on his behind, and he started to cry._

_            "Shh, don't cry Cassius," said Draco, sitting on the ice next to the other boy. "It takes a while to learn how to skate as well as I do."_

_            "But I want to learn no-ow," whined Cassius, looking up at Draco through his tears. Draco wiped them away._

_            "Malfoys don't cry," said Draco, getting up off the ice. He held a hand out for Cassius. "Come on, let's go inside. Maybe Dobby has some hot cocoa ready for us."_

_            "Okay!" exclaimed Cassius happily as Draco pulled him to his feet. They sat at the small bench at the lake's edge and took their skates off. After putting their shoes back on, they headed towards the Manor._

__

_            It was Christmas morning, and the Christmas tree was decorated in its entire splendor. Underneath it, and hidden in its branches, were many gaily-wrapped gifts. Two children, Draco and Cassius, came running into the room, followed by Narcissa Malfoy._

_            "Well, go to it," she said as she settled into her favorite armchair. Cassius looked up at her._

_            "What about Father?" he asked. Narcissa stiffened at the mention of Lucius._

_            "Yes, what about Father?" piped up Draco. "Shouldn't we wait for him?"_

_            "Your father had to work this morning, so he won't be joining us," Narcissa replied. Both children made sounds of disappointment, as they were obliged to do, even though they were relieved that Lucius wasn't there. _

__

_            Cassius and Draco were sitting on the floor in the sitting room, a toy broomstick between them. Suddenly, Lucius burst out of the office off of the sitting room and grabbed Cassius by the arm._

_            "Get away from him, filth. You are not worthy enough to be near him," said Lucius harshly. Draco couldn't hear what Cassius said in reply, and when he tried to follow them, Lucius put a binding charm on him. Draco lay, board stiff, on the floor until his father returned._

_            A little while later, Lucius returned to the sitting room, alone. He undid the binding charm on his son, and Draco jumped up from the floor._

_            "Where did you take Cassius, father?" asked Draco, his eyes wide and inquisitive. "I want to play with my brother."_

_            "You have no brother," Lucius said, pointing his wand at Draco. "Obliviate."_

__

            The curse was lifted then. As soon as it was, Draco retched on the dusty floor.

            "That's just a little lesson of what will happen if you do fail me," said a cold, hissing voice above him. Draco looked up into the scarlet eyes of Lord Voldemort. "You wouldn't want to fail me, now would you, young Malfoy?"

            "No, my Lord," Draco gasped through the aftershocks of pain still coursing through his body.

            "Good," said Voldemort, obviously pleased. "You may go now."

            Draco slowly got to his feet and, as soon as he was strong enough, Disapparated away to the large penthouse flat he had moved into soon after graduating. He flopped onto the sofa and closed his eyes. A minute later he heard movement in the back of the apartment, and soon after someone sat next to Draco. He cracked open an eye to see the pug face of Pansy Parkinson.

            "How the hell did you get in here? I thought I changed the wards!" Draco said. Pansy just smirked.

            "Don't you remember, Dracky-poo?" she cooed. "Charms was my best subject!"

            "How could I forget?" muttered Draco. "Get out of my house, Pansy. I'm not in the mood to deal with you."

            "Surely you don't mean that," said Pansy, batting her eyelashes at him. Draco drew his wand and stood, looming over the other Slytherin.

            "Oh, don't I?" said Draco softly, much as Snape did when he was trying to intimidate. "If you don't leave willingly, I'll curse you so that you will." Back in their fourth year, when the fake Moody was teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts, Pansy couldn't throw off the Imperious curse, and he was positive she couldn't now. Pansy's eyes widened a fraction, resting on Draco's wand.

            "You wouldn't, you'd get caught and sent to Azkaban," said Pansy. 

            "Oh really? Are you sure about that?" asked Draco, not moving his wand. "In case you haven't noticed, Parkinson, my wards are set so that no magic can be detected by the Ministry. I could cast _Avada Kedavra _and nothing would happen to me. Convenient, isn't it?"

            Pansy was now very afraid. She looked at Draco's wand with wide eyes, and she slowly got to her feet.

            "All right, I'm gone," she said quietly. She strode to the door of the flat silently, and she was about to leave when she turned back. "I hope you know what you're doing, Draco Malfoy. I may be the best thing to ever happen to you." Without waiting for a reply, she flounced out of the apartment. Draco let out the breath he didn't know he was holding as the door clicked shut.

            "Stupid cow," he muttered, relaxing and staring up at his ceiling. The one thought that was going through his mind was _who the hell was that other kid in his visions? What was his name again? Cassidy? No, wait, that's a girl's name! Cassius? That's better, Cassius._

            Draco never remembered anything about another child being around when he was younger. But he would have remembered Cassius; he seemed to be eight or nine at the time of the last memory. Draco wasn't sure what was going on, and that wasn't a feeling he liked having. He suddenly got up and started pacing; it seemed like he thought better when he was on his feet.

            _Why can't I remember him? Wait…maybe those aren't MY memories! Maybe I inherited some of Father's memories…wait, that's just stupid. You can't inherit memories. That's just impossible. _Draco's thoughts were running rampant in his head; there was little organization to them. Then an idea hit him like a bludger. _Of course, I'll just ask Mother about it! Why didn't I think of that before?_ Without another thought, Draco grabbed his traveling cloak and Disapparated.

A lone figure appeared out of no where on the edge of the Malfoy estate. The estate was warded much like Hogwarts; you couldn't Apparate or Disapparate on the grounds. As well, the wards were set to detect intruders, and unwelcome people were disposed of immediately.

            Draco began the long trek up to drive to the large manor house. He had no idea why a carriage hadn't come and picked him up, but that was inconsequential at the moment. The walk gave him time to think; after all, he had no idea on what to say to his mother. He could just see it now: him bursting into the house, scaring the bejezus out of his mother. The thought gave him a bit of a smile, but he quickly quashed it. He had to be serious about this.

            He finally made it to the front door. With a deep breath, he grabbed a hold of the ornate serpent-shaped knocker and tapped the door three times. A moment later, it swung open, a small house elf peeking out.

            "Oh, Master Malfoy, you is coming for a visit?" it asked in a squeaky voice. "Tippy will go tell Madam Malfoy, Master Malfoy, you is waiting here." With that, the little elf Disapparated from the front hall, presumably to go find Draco's mother. A moment later, the elf reappeared, bowing low. "Madam Malfoy is in the library. Is you needing Tippy to show you where she is?"

            "No thank you," Draco said absently. He strode down the corridor that he knew would lead to the library. When he entered, he saw that his mother was sitting in a chair in front of the fire, a large book in her lap.

            "Why hello there, Draco. How nice of you to drop by," she said with a smile. She gestured to the chair opposite her. "Come and sit. Will you be staying long?"

            "However long it takes, mother," Draco replied, sitting down. Narcissa looked confused. "First off, is Father around?"

            "No dear, he isn't," replied Narcissa with a frown. "What is this all about, Draco?"

            "Oh good, this will be so much easier without him around," Draco said with relief. "I was at a meeting last night, and while I was being tortured," Draco shuddered at the memory, "I had a few images come at me. They were of me and another boy, possibly two years younger than me. I was wondering if you could explain that."

            "Well, it could have been your cousin Colubra," Narcissa remarked. Draco shook his head.

            "Colubra is two years _older_ than me, remember? The boy I saw was two years younger," he said. "We were no younger than ten, if that helps."

            "I don't know how to tell you this, dear, but, well…" began Narcissa, trailing off because she didn't know how to word it.

            "Well what?" asked Draco, growing impatient. He hated being made to wait, and if Narcissa hadn't been his mother, she would be on the floor writhing because of the Cruciatus curse.

            "I…" she began again, but she stopped when she heard the door creep open…

Ooh, cliffie! I'm so sorry for not updating…writer's block and exam prep can get in the way sometimes, LOL. I do, in fact, have a few exams left, but it's come to the point where if I don't know it by now, I'm screwed whether I study or not. Anyway, I hope you liked the new chapter, and please don't yell at me too much for not updating. I promise it'll be faster going for chapter 2!        

    

            


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